QUINCY, ILL. -- Elizabeth Edwards' public battle with breast cancer and open use of hospice shares a different idea of what hospice can do for a family.
Blessing Hospital hospice director says it's a common myth that using hospice means the patient has given up.
Instead, it can be an opportunity for the patient to spend time with family and educate themselves about the inevitable.
Hospice care is available to anybody with a prognosis of six months or less life expectancy.
Blessing Hospital has a hospice program but people in the Tri-States don't take advantage of it.
Blessing hospice nurses spend around half as much time in homes, about 38 days, compared to the rest of the state.
But program director Jeri Conboy says that number is slowly increasing.
"What we saw last year was we provided care to just about the same number of individuals but we had just a slightly longer length of stay that we provided care for them. So, the end result was we provided more days of care for just about the same number of individuals," said director of Blessing hospice Jeri Conboy.
Even though numbers of hospice in the area are lower than state-wide numbers, one family has used it several times for his loved ones.
"I think there comes a time where the patient makes the decision that I don't want to be treated anymore. I just want you to let me go," said Boster.
When you hear a loved one say those words, it's hard to believe the end is near. When Dave Boster and his family hear that from his mother, they looked for help through hospice.
"They were there holding my hand, saying this is what's going to happen next, and they really get involved with helping you get through it," said hospice user Dave Boster.
"They use that time as a gift to spend with their family, to resolve some trouble they've had with family member's relationships, those kinds of things. So, when you participate in that, it's really a joy. It's not a burden," said Blessing hospice director Jeri Conboy.
Boster's family also used hospice care when his father and father-in-law were dying.
"Hospice just provides a lot of answers to those uncertainties about how you're going to feel and what's going to happen. So, things aren't a surprise. You can enjoy those last few days with your loved one," said Boster.
Hospice not only provided help to the Boster's during the time his parents were sick, but also provided the rest of the family with anything they needed after their loved ones passed.
It is paid for by Medicare, Medicaid, and insurance.
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